Thursday, 16 April 2015 00:00

Progressives Take Stand as Fast Track Fight Kicks into High Gear on Capitol Hill

Written by Deidre Fulton | Common Dreams
From the Teamsters Twitter feed: "#Teamsters stand strong w/ 1,200 union members now to say #StopFastTrack & #TPP" From the Teamsters Twitter feed: "#Teamsters stand strong w/ 1,200 union members now to say #StopFastTrack & #TPP" (Photo: @Teamsters/Twitter)

With legislation to speed up congressional approval of the Trans Pacific Partnership and other corporate-friendly trade deals on the verge of being introduced in Congress, a coalition of elected officials, labor unions, and environmental groups gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to voice their vehement opposition to such a bill.

The Hill reported Tuesday that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was "optimistic" about introducing 'Fast Track' legislation as early as Wednesday—the same day an estimated 1,000 labor and environmental activists converged in Washington, D.C. to spread the message: "Stop Fast Track."

"The voices of workers will be in the halls of Congress and at our rally to declare U.S. trade deals have been nothing more than broken promises of lost jobs and closed factories that are wiping out middle class American families," said United Steelworkers president Leo W. Gerard.

U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio); as well as AFL-CIO executive vice president Tefere Gebre and Sierra Club national campaign director Debbie Sease, were among those who rallied against Fast Track and the TPP on Wednesday.

"The grassroots movement against Fast Track is nationwide—and it’s not just labor," Celeste Drake, the AFL-CIO's trade policy specialist, told The Hill. "It's folks from the environmental, consumer, faith, farm, business and good governance communities as well. And we're having an impact."

As Common Dreams reported Tuesday, Democratic support for Fast Track is dwindling, with just 15 House Democrats on the record as being in favor of the legislation.

And according to The Nation on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, came out publicly as opposing Fast Track.

The AFL-CIO is also preparing for a national Day of Action to Stop Fast Track, scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Stay informed about Wednesday's actions by following #StopFastTrack on Twitter:

Read 27052 times

Latest ERA News

  • 1
  • 2

ERA Calls

Feed not found.

Latest News

  • Trump administration's voter suppression attempts ahead of midterms are not only 'morally wrong,' they're illegal +

    Trump administration's voter suppression attempts ahead of midterms are not only 'morally wrong,' they're illegal Imagine going to the polls on Election Day and discovering that your ballot could be collected and reviewed by the Read More
  • ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' +

    ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' Read More
  • As Florence Makes Landfall, Poorest Once More Likely to Suffer Most From Storm's Destruction +

    As Florence Makes Landfall, Poorest Once More Likely to Suffer Most From Storm's Destruction "These disasters drag into the light exactly who is already being thrown away," notes Naomi Klein Read More
  • How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. +

    How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. Read More
  • How One Dying Man Changed The Debate About The Tax Bill +

    How One Dying Man Changed The Debate About The Tax Bill What mattered was that he showed up — that he put himself in front of the people whose opinions on Read More
  • Democrats Just Won a Major Victory in Virginia +

    Democrats Just Won a Major Victory in Virginia On a night of Democratic victories, one of the most significant wins came in Virginia, where the party held onto Read More
  • Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. +

    Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. A seismic political battle that could send shockwaves all the way to the White House was launched last week in Read More
  • Nuclear Weapons: Who Pays, Who Profits? +

    Nuclear Weapons: Who Pays, Who Profits? In an interview with Reuters conducted a month after he took office, Donald Trump asserted that the U.S. had “fallen Read More
  • Sessions issues sweeping new criminal charging policy +

    Sessions issues sweeping new criminal charging policy Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed Read More
  • 1
  • 2

Featured ERA News

  • Meryl Streep could get the Equal Rights Amendment passed, says Michael Moore +

    Meryl Streep could get the Equal Rights Amendment passed, says Michael Moore Meryl Streep, political leader? Director Michael Moore suggested onstage at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of his latest movie, “Where Read More
  • Now Is Our Time +

    Now Is Our Time Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state Read More
  • Meryl Streep Asks Congress to Revive the ERA +

    Meryl Streep Asks Congress to Revive the ERA No actor or actress can match Meryl Streep's 19 Academy Award nominations, and only Katharine Hepburn has bested her three Read More
  • Patricia Arquette (and All U.S. Women) Need ERA Now +

    Patricia Arquette (and All U.S. Women) Need ERA Now Now that Arquette has called out the naked emperor, the question is, who will provide the leadership to harness the Read More
  • Fearless Carla Cunningham and Introduction of ERA in NC +

    Fearless Carla Cunningham and Introduction of ERA in NC ERA is ‘in the air,’ according to the NC National Organization for Women. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is the Read More
  • Virginia still deciding if women are equal +

    Virginia still deciding if women are equal RICHMOND — In 1972, when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment and asked states to ratify it, “The Godfather” was No. Read More
  • Virginia GOP Rescinds and then Passes the ERA +

    Virginia GOP Rescinds and then Passes the ERA UPDATE: On February 5th the Virginia Senate passed SJ 216 after rescinding passage on February 3rd. The status of the Read More
  • Letter to Legislators on the ERA - Don't Let Phyllis Schafly Fool You (Again) +

    Letter to Legislators on the ERA - Don't Let Phyllis Schafly Fool You (Again) The Illinois House is poised to vote on ratification of the ERA tomorrow before noon. Phyllis Schafly and her cronies Read More
  • Fight to ratify Equal Rights Amendment draws new interest +

    Fight to ratify Equal Rights Amendment draws new interest It's not just your mother or grandmother's fight. Thousands of women are expected to rally on the west lawn of Read More
  • 1
  • 2